Flower Meadow Goddess
by Sophia Angelia
Summary: What started as a peaceful day for Ra ended up becoming quite unpredictable. Not the best choice for a god of order... NOTE: Takes place 20 years after "Serpent's Shadow". One-shot. This story doesen't really follow a plot line. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!


It was just an average day in the world. No calamities had appeared in the past twenty years since the defeat of Apophis, but no one was sure if this was surprising or not. It was the most peaceful time the world would have ever experienced. In that time, Carter and Zia had gotten married, and had one girl named Arianna. Sadie and Walt/Anubis had also gotten married, but they hadn't planned on having any kids. The gods had returned to the world to cure their boredom, Horus allowing Set to cause a little ruckus so they still had a purpose.

As Ra sailed in the sun boat over the East Coast of North America, he gazed down into the Brooklyn House as to keep an eye on Zia and her family. Surprisingly, Arianna was nowhere to be found in the house. No one seemed to notice her absence; at least, not yet.

_Thunk_.

Ra blinked. Had something just hit the sun boat? Whatever. It didn't happen again, so he shrugged it off and continued looking for Arianna.

_Thunk. Thunk._

Okay, either Ra was going crazy _again_ or something _was_ hitting the sun boat. He looked around for the source of the noise, coming to the conclusion that he wasn't being attacked. So, what was going haywire with the boat?

_Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Crack!_ "Ow."

Ra got up out of his throne on the boat and strode to the stern of the boat, seeing a little girl clutching her head by the rudder. It took the old god a minute to process that the girl was Arianna, and that she had somehow snuck onto his boat.

"Arianna, what are you doing on my boat?" Ra asked, sounding regal and in control.

Arianna looked up with huge, fear filled eyes. She held the side of her head, which was bleeding. The railing of the boat had a large crack down the center, and Ra assumed that the ten year old had been repeatedly banging her head against it.

"The voices won't go away." Arianna whispered. Her eyes clouded, and her expression changed from that of a guilty child to that of a wild animal about to be killed. She screamed at the top of her lungs, pressing her palms against the sides of her head, trying to block out the voices.

When the voices stopped talking, she drew her knees in and hugged them against her chest, tears forming in her eyes. Curling up in a ball on the floor, she repeated over and over, "I don't want to kill him… I don't want to…"

Ra was stunned. He had never expected the current pharaoh, Carter, and Ra's own preferred one, Zia, to produce a child with a case of schizophrenia this severe. But when Ra took a closer look at the child, a faint aura surrounded her head, infiltrating her brain through her ears, which meant that someone really _was_ talking to her. The aura was deep crimson, and when the end emerged out the other side, it looked suspiciously like a snake. _Apophis_. Ra thought to himself. _I though those Kane children had execrated him. Perhaps he had a backup plan…_ Whatever the case, Ra decided on a course of action to help the girl.

"Listen, Arianna." Ra bent down and put a hand on her forehead. The red aura around the girl's head hissed at Ra and writhed in an agitated way around the girl. "I'm going to help you get rid of the voices. Would you like that?"

Arianna picked her head up off the floor and gazed up at the ancient god, her golden eyes laden with unshed tears. She nodded slightly.

"I need to get inside your head for a moment. Can you trust me and let me in?" Ra said, preparing to take on a new host.

Arianna sniffled. "Just get the yucky snake out. He hurts…" She lowered her head to the floor again, wincing against the pain as Apophis made tight coils around her head. Apophis hissed at Ra, as if to say, _Back off: She's my host._

_Oh, no, you don't._ Ra responded, pressing a scarab beetle against Arianna's forehead, and entering her mind.

* * *

:.*`-`*.:

* * *

The first thing Ra noticed upon entering was that the snake he thought was Apophis wasn't really Apophis. It was still a chaos snake, but there was a distinct difference. This snake didn't try and think of cunning plans the way Apophis did. No, it just charged into battle, much like the way it rushed Ra as he entered Arianna's mind. Another difference was that this snake wasn't nearly as big as Apophis was, nor was it as coordinated. Ra easily sidestepped the snake, letting it barrel past him. Ra then launched a fireball at the snake's side, and the snake recoiled away.

_Fine. You win this round, Ra._ Not-Apophis said, exiting Arianna's head for good. That was another difference: Apophis never gave up until he couldn't fight anymore. This snake ran away after taking just one hit. Ra chuckled, wondering if this coward was really going to be his new arch-nemesis. Looking around the gray area, Ra found that the Apophis impersonator had been trying to create its own Sea of Chaos right there in Arianna's mind, which would explain why Arianna was on his boat, and why she had been trying to break open her skull on the railing. Ra murmured a few words, and the chaos puddle returned to whatever it was originally.

The gray fog cleared, and Ra found himself on the side of a hill. The hill was blanketed by flowers and grass, and it overlooked a sparkling blue river below. On the river, a mental replica of the sun boat passed slowly, mirroring the movement of the sun above. Arianna sat on the side of the hill, wearing a beautiful white dress and golden jewelry. She held a circle of woven flowers, all of them a bright golden color. Staring transfixed at the sun boat, she placed the circle of flowers on her head, wearing them like a crown on top of her long, flowing chocolate curls. Ra walked over and sat down next to her, hearing the distant chirps of birds as they watched the sun boat together.

"That's new." Arianna commented, as if snapping out of a trance.

"What's new?" Ra asked, curious.

Arianna pointed at the sun boat. "That's not usually there."

"What _is_ usually there, then?" Ra inquired, sounding like a school teacher.

Arianna knit her eyebrows in concentration, and cocked her head to the side. Slowly, her hand dropped back to her side. "I can't remember. How curious."

"Indeed." Ra agreed.

"But it was absolutely spectacular. I remember waiting here a long time, just to catch a glimpse. But I can't remember what it looked like." Arianna sighed, her shoulders slumping in disappointment. Ra couldn't blame her. The sun boat was looking pretty run down, and became quite the eyesore after a while.

"Where are we, anyways?" Ra asked, trying to get the topic off of his beat down ride.

"How should I know?" Arianna responded, picking a few wildflowers and starting to knit them together.

"It's your mind." Ra countered.

"But I don't know everything about me." Arianna pointed out. "My life's not over, so I still have a lot to learn."

Ra opened his mouth to respond, but then closed it, realizing she had a point. As far as ten year olds go, that was some pretty deep thinking. Lost in thought, Ra was only snapped out of it when a ring of colors passed in front of his face, landing on his shoulders. He blinked at the necklace of flowers that Arianna had made for him, then at the patch of green around Arianna, showing how many flowers it had taken to make both her flower crown and his flower necklace.

"It's kind of empty, isn't it?" Arianna stood up and gestured to the never-ending expanse of flowers on either side of the river. They had somehow moved to the top of the only hill for miles.

"Quite. The soil's fertile enough for one to start a kingdom here." Ra stood up and gazed around as well. "Perhaps you could build a sturdy castle here, and wait for that spectacular thing to pass by again."

"What would I build it out of? There's no limestone around here." Arianna said matter-of-factly.

Ra grinned. "Make it out of flowers!"

Arianna smiled, then reached up and grasped the sun god's wrist. "You'll help me, right? I can't do this alone."

"Sure. Just tell me what to do," Ra smiled and bowed playfully. "Pharaoh of the Meadow."

Arianna giggled. "Right! As your Pharaoh, I command you to build me a castle out of wildflowers!" She pointed to her feet. "Right here!"

* * *

Arianna then went on to show Ra how to knit together flowers and build things out of them. Since he could knit them together faster than she could, Arianna went around picking and collecting flowers while Ra put them together with speedy skill. In just thirty minutes, they had fashioned a large square house just big enough for the two of them to hide inside. A great majority of the flowers had been stripped off the hill, leaving it deep green in contrast to the vividly colored house. The two of them ducked inside and waited. It didn't take long, but the spectacular thing started to happen.

It started when the sun boat veered off into a side canal, and a parade of sea animals began a parade downstream. Fish leaped and twirled, spouting streams of water and making decorative designs. Crocodiles floated lazily after, staying afloat and giving a stage to the dancing water birds on its back. Falcons and hawks performed amazing areal ballets and nosedives, while small rodents passed through the field, spreading flower seeds. After the parade passed a bit, the final act, a huge swarm of monarch butterflies and all sorts of nectar-feeding birds came in to drink the flowers and pass on pollen.

From the inside of a flower house, Ra and Arianna watched as butterflies and humming birds flew over and rested their wings on the walls of the house while getting a good meal. Arianna took the chance and stepped outside. Two large birds showed up with a large piece of silk, and lifter Arianna into the air like a princess. Butterflies and humming birds adorned her golden flower crown, making her seem truly like a Pharaoh of the Meadow. No: she was the Goddess of the Meadow. Swinging leisurely on her silk, she gestured for Ra to come out of the house. Once he stepped outside, butterflies drifted over to his necklace while two larger birds carrying a golden piece of silk between came and picked up Ra, carrying him over to where Arianna resided in the middle of the flock. Colorful butterflies adorned their faces and birds perched on their shoulders as they played in the meadow with the spectacular animals.

* * *

:.*`-`*.:

* * *

Arianna waved goodbye to the animals as the sun set, denoting it was time for the animals to leave. Ra sat on top of the hill, and Arianna sat in his lap. He hugged her close as they watched the flock of butterflies drift off until they couldn't be seen.

"Hey, I think it's about time we got you back home. I'm sure your parents would be worried by now." Ra said, knowing that it was around sunset in the real world as well.

Arianna shook her head. "They're not worried because they know I'm with you."

"They know you snuck away?" Ra exclaimed, surprised.

"Uh-huh!" Arianna beamed. "They knew I had a yucky snake in my head, and they said you would be the best person to help. They said, 'Grandpa Ra knows what to do!' Freak flew me up to the sun boat, but then the snake started taking over…"

"I get it now."Ra nodded. "But we still have to go. I have to do things tonight."

Arianna pouted. "Can we come back tomorrow?"

"Of course. I'd be delighted to accompany you here again." Ra smiled. "Goddess of the Meadow."

Arianna giggled again, and the scene slowly faded. "See you tomorrow!" She called, her voice fading into the distance.

* * *

:.*`-`*.:

* * *

"Ra! Wake up!" There was a light slap on his face, and Ra opened his eyes to find himself being blinded by a flashlight. "Good, he's come too." The flashlight went away, and Ra blinked a few times to get the lingering spots out of his eyes. What he saw when he could see again was Thoth just inches from his face. Ra could also feel Thoth had him in a straddle, with a heavy medical bag at his side.

"Don't sit on my like that!" Ra protested, sitting up suddenly and scooting backward, throwing Thoth off.

"Sorry for saving you life." Thoth scowled, standing up and brushing the dust off his lab jacket.

"I wasn't in any danger." Ra countered, standing up by leaning on the railing of the boat. He then noticed all the other gods had gathered around him nervously, letting out small sighs of relief when Ra got up.

"You were unconscious from noon until sunset. We have a right to worry." Thoth slung his medical bag over his shoulder. "Had the lights not accidentally steered the ship into the Hall of the Gods, you would have probably went into the Duat like that." Of course, Ra hadn't failed to realize that the prow of the ship had rammed a huge hole in the wall. The balls of light were already at work repairing for the night's journey.

"So, what happened at noon?" Sobek asked. Many of the other gods shout out their questions as well, and Ra tried to explain what had happened in the minimum amount of detail as possible. He did, however, describe the easy defeat of the Apophis wannabe, and announce that he would be keeping an eye on Arianna in case something similar starts happening.

"That's it, then? You're just going to keep passing out at noon?" Horus was barely able to keep his rage under control. "You have responsibilities, Ra. You of all gods should know that breaking the pattern could be catastrophic."

The two pharaohs locked eyes, engaging a power struggle that seemed to last hours, when it was over in just a few seconds. "Bah, do what you want. I shouldn't stop you from fighting your nemesis." Horus flung his arms in the air, giving up. He stalked down the hall, punching a marble column as he went.

Ra smiled, commanding the orbs of light to push out and into the River of Night. Sitting back on his throne of fire, Ra suddenly realized he was holding something. Opening his right hand, he saw a golden flower; one that Arianna had wore as her crown. The sent it gave off seemed to be inviting, and Ra smiled, reminding him of the dream in the meadow. A message drifted with it, too.

* * *

_See you tomorrow._

* * *

**A/N: Oh my Ra, I totally went off on a tangent on this story. I blame music. What I was listening to at the time reminded me of a flowery meadow. So if you ever imagine Ra frolicking through a meadow with a bunch of flowers and butterflies, I'm sorry. I had to get this out there.**

**I love exploring the parenting sides of characters, so I will usually give my favorite characters little kids to take care of for a while. I don't quite understand why. I personally am not a little kid person.**

**NOTE: This is a ONE-SHOT! I will not be making a series out of this.**

**READ ON!**

**-SA ;P**


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